Win A Swarovski Crystal Button Ring from my shop!

Good Morning!

It is time for a giveaway from my shop!  In the past, I have always run the giveaways myself.  They never generated the attention I desired.  So this time, I am having another blog, a blog I advertise my shop through, run the giveaway!  

Please check out Pixel Berry Pie Designs Blog for the Swarovski Button Ring Giveaway!
Rules for entering are on her blog page, along with many pictures of the rings you could choose.

http://www.pixelberrypiedesigns.blogspot.com/2012/09/giveaway-handcrafted-swarovski-ring.html#comment-form

The giveaway runs through 10/14/12.

The winner will be able to choose the color of Swarovski Button from those available and weather to wrap it in sterling wire or craft wire.  The value is $18.00-$30.00 depending on the ring choosen.

Today, instead of posting the rings (I'd like you to go to the Pixel Berry Pie Designs Blog or my shop to check them out), I'm posting pictures of some of the pieces I've created that coordinate well with the rings!  

http://carolsjewelryorchard.etsy.com

Enjoy!  ~Carol~

Blog Giveaway Winner; October!

We have a winner!

Congrats to Zoe, give away blog post comment, number 4!

Number 4 was selected by random.org random integer generator;

Here are your random numbers:

4 

Timestamp: 2010-10-26 01:47:40 UTC

www.random.org

Zoe; please contact me with your address, so that I may mail the fused glass necklace to you in honor of Breast Cancer awareness month! Again, congratulations!

Thanks to all who entered! Please continue to follow my blog for more musings on gardening, children, music, book, and of course, jewelry! Coming soon; my October Shop Snapshot! (How Carol's Jewelry Orchard did in October!)

Have a great evening!

~Carol~

Arg!!!! I hate wasting time!

Good Wednesday Morning! Instead of my Wordless Wednesday posting I need to "vent" about wasting time! I had a morning yesterday, where I felt about 2 hours of my time was wasted and then, it got worse!

I absolutely hate wasting time! Time is a precious thing! As I've told you before, I am a very goal directed person and to meet the goals I set for myself, I am almost constantly in motion. Rarely, do I engage in "doing" nothing. Yes, I can be a self-described type A personality or said to be "wound tight". But, I do get a lot done and am successful at most of what I do.

However, yesterday morning, I ran into technical difficulties. I was working on invitations to my second annual jewelry showing. This year, I had decided to save ink and just upload my pictures to Walmart. After spending almost two hours uploading and checking the cropping, I went to order the pictures......then, the site asks again if I want "true" 4x6 prints or 4x6 prints. Well, to make a long story short I wanted the "true" prints so the whole image would show.

Then, the order showed that some (about half) of the prints had been converted and the other half weren't. Well, I figured that the most important print was the invitation with the text layered over a picture of coreopsis from my yard (very fallish.....since my show will be in November). I definitely didn't want the print cropped off!

After adjustments were made and saved, I went to upload and now the picture would not upload! ARG!!!! Truly, I am not a technical idiot! I am computer savvy and this was extremely irritating! Finally, I got it uploaded and saved. I sent in the order!

Later in the afternoon, I went to pick up the photos......my order was fine! Except for the fact that after all that messing around I ended up forgetting that I needed about 30 of this one photograph (the invite with the text) and got one instead! (My 30 must have been deleted after the upload failed).

I admit that as the morning wore on, I became more and more frustrated! My frustration prevented me from seeing that on my order I only had one text/photo! So, much time was wasted yesterday! Obviously, I'll need to resubmit that picture today! In hindsight, I was trying to save time and money by having my photos printed at an outside lab. Now, I realize it would have been easier, a lot more time efficient, and probably about the same cost to print the photos myself! Oh, well.....there's always next year!

I'm off to resubmit my photo and finish my invitations! Hopefully, my time will be better spent today!

Please take a minute to enter my blog giveaway for a beautiful, one of a kind fused glass pendant necklace. It ends 10/25/10. Just leave a comment on the blog post describing the giveaway (two posts ago), and you'll be entered! Right now, only one person has entered!

Thanks,

Carol

Fall is time for planting Spring Bulbs!

We have had just a beautiful October here in Western Wisconsin. In fact, we could use a little rain! After a very wet summer, I am surprised I am saying that! But it's true.

The great weather has allowed us to get many things done outside in our yard in some very comfortable temperatures. In an earlier post, I told of a couple new garden beds at the end of our new driveway where I planted bulbs and mums. We had another area near the end of the driveway that we put a new bed because we were having a hard time getting new grass to grow.

So, on a recent, beautifully warm, October day I planted more spring bulbs. This garden will be pink and white! It will have a mix of crocus, hyacinths, tulips, and asiatic lilies. It should be gorgeous come next April/May! The planting of the pink and white was a spur of the moment decision. I'm not sure what exactly prompted it. It could be that October is Breast Cancer awareness month. It could be that my Mom just had a breast biopsy. Thankfully, she is fine.

It could be that I've always wanted to do a theme garden and never have! It just could be as simple as liking pink and white! I'll be sure to post some pictures next spring! I can't wait to see the results!

Do you know why you spring bulbs in the fall? Bulbs are food storage systems. These particular plants need the cold winter months to grow roots. When the time is right, in the spring, the plants sleeping inside these bulb "packages" will awaken and provide us with their encouraging beauty at a time we all need renewal. The tunic or paper like covering on the outside of a bulb, helps to protect it. The plant itself is deep within. The basal plate, found at the bottom of the bulb, provides the stability the plant needs and will be the source of newly growing roots. Spring bulbs are some of my favorite plants! You can plant bulbs right up until the ground is frozen! So, head over to your local home/garden store and get a few bulbs! You'll be glad you did next Spring!

This is a great time to remind you that I am hosting my first blog giveaway! It is in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and is a pink fused glass pendant necklace, surrounded by Swarovski crystals. It is a one of a kind creation. Enter today! To learn how to enter, just read the next post here on my blog! It is simple! I hope you enter! Good luck to all!